“You’d like to believe that when the tide comes in all the boats get raised,” said one Bank of America employee who works in the division that services delinquent mortgages. He said bonuses there are about two weeks’ pay. “But the tide’s come in and it seems like the only boats getting raised are the big ones.” He said in past years, when he worked in a different division, he and his colleagues often used bonuses to buy big-ticket items such as a new TV or laptop. Now, he said he’s more likely to use the money to pay down debt or boost savings. “I’m going to be as thrifty as I can,” he said…

Wells Fargo bankers will start to learn about their bonuses this week and get paid later in the spring. Two people familiar with the situation said investment bankers who help corporations make deals and raise capital are especially optimistic. Those bankers, particularly in the upper ranks, are likely to “kill it this year,” one of the people said.

The more frequently you monitor your portfolio, the more likely you are to observe a loss. This is likely to cause short-sighted decisions and could hurt your investment performance. If you are checking your portfolio more than once per quarter, you’re doing it too much.